This application claims benefit to Australian patent application No. 57664/01 and to European patent application No. 01 118100.5, both of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a seat base for a child""s vehicular seat and more specifically to a seat base for the child""s seat from which the child""s seat can be selectively engaged and disengaged and which has an adjustable stabilizing load leg that engages the floor of the vehicle.
2. Related Art
It has been proposed to provide a seat base, from which a child""s vehicular seat can be selectively engaged and disengaged, that can be left on the vehicle seat cushion once it has been properly installed on the seat cushion. In addition, it has been proposed to add a so-called xe2x80x9cload legxe2x80x9d which extends between the seat base and the floor of the vehicle to improve the stability/performance of the child""s seat in the event of a frontal impact during a vehicular collision. The load leg is intended to prevent rotation of the seat base and child""s seat in the event of such a vehicular collision and thus to limit the excursion of a seat occupant""s head beyond acceptable limits. However, load leg arrangements, thus far, have lacked user-friendliness and have tended to be cumbersome to use, which invites improper disposition/adjustment.
The present invention provides a seat base with a load leg arrangement that improves the ease of disposition, folding and adjustment of the load leg arrangement relative to the seat base. The present invention also provides a seat base that includes a lock off device to easily capture and securely hold a vehicle shoulder belt in position relative to the seat base to retain the seat base on the vehicle seat.
In order to achieve the above advantages, the present invention provides a seat base with a load leg that is pivotally mounted at one end of a seat base. The load leg is provided with a length adjustment feature that allows the length of the load leg to be adjusted and then to be securely locked at a selected length. In addition, the load leg is provided with a fold latch arrangement, which automatically engages latch-receiving members in the seat base when the load leg is rotated from a stored position to an operative one to lock the load leg in the operative position. The latching or locking arrangement has, in one embodiment, a push-button type release feature to facilitate easy release and folding of the load leg to the stored position.
The seat base also includes alligator clamp-like members, one on either side of the base, to clamp a vehicle shoulder belt to the seat base and prevent the belt from slipping along the belt""s axial direction. The clamp-like members thus secure the seat base to the vehicle seat via the vehicle belt.
More specifically, a first aspect of the present invention resides in a seat arrangement comprising a seat supporting base member adapted to be secured to a vehicle seat by way of a seat belt, and a load leg which is adjustable in length and pivotally supported at one end of the base member.
In this seat arrangement, the load leg is provided with a lock mechanism for locking the load leg in an operative position when it is pivoted from a stored position to the operative position. Additionally, the length adjustment of the load leg is controlled by a selectively releasable latch mechanism which locks the load leg against change in axial length.
Further, this seat arrangement further comprises an easy to use lock-off device, which is adapted to receive a vehicle belt and to clamp the belt against movement in its axial direction. This lock off device comprises a clamp having inner and outer members which are operatively connected with one another such that webbing of a vehicle belt, when slid and clamped between the inner and outer members, is prevented from sliding along its length.
In more detail, the inner member of the above lock-off device is fixed to a surface of the base member, while the outer member has one end immovably fastened to one end of the inner member and is superimposed over the inner member so that a seat belt receiving clearance is established between the free end of the outer member and a corresponding end of the inner member.
A second aspect of the invention resides in a seat arrangement having a base member to which a child""s seat can selectively attached and detached, a load leg extending from one end of the base member for engagement with a floor of the vehicle, and a lock off device for a seat belt, the lock off device being characterized by an inner member fixed to a surface of the base member; and an outer member having one end immovably integral with one end of the inner member and superimposed over the inner member so that a tapering clearance, into which seat belt webbing can be easily slid, is established between the free end of the outer member and a corresponding end of the inner member.
This seat arrangement is further characterized in that the load leg is pivotally mounted to the base member. In addition, the load leg is adjustable in length.
To facilitate deployment of the load leg, the load leg is provided with a latch mechanism to permit the load leg to be locked at a selected length. In accordance with this aspect, this latch mechanism has at least one pivotal latch member that selectively engages openings formed in a strut reciprocatively mounted in a housing also forming part of the load leg.
Further, the load leg includes a fold latch arrangement which holds the load leg in an operative position until the load leg is manually released. This fold latch arrangement comprises a lock member that protrudes through an opening formed in the base member and locks the load leg against pivotal movement until the lock member manually depressed to a level whereat engagement between the lock member and the base member is absent.